Harry's Gratitude towards Voldemort
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: When Harry gets off at Kings Cross after his fifth year, he faints in front of his relatives, but as soon as he is taken back to Hogwarts, he's fine again. Who'll be able to solve the riddle? AU, OOC. Mentioning of Voldemort killing the Dursleys. ADMM


**Harry's Gratitude towards Voldemort**

Harry remained extremely quiet on the train ride back to Kings Cross at the end of his fifth year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. '_How could I be so stupid to let Voldemort lure me into the Ministry and get Sirius killed?_' he thought over and over.

"Harry, it's time to get off. We're at Kings Cross," Hermione's soft voice suddenly penetrated his ear.

"Hurry up, Harry," Ron added, handing him Hedwig's cage.

Harry slowly followed his friends through the magical wall leading to the Muggle platforms ten and eleven, where Mrs. Weasley pulled him into a bear hug, before she repeated the same with Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. Released from her strong grip, Harry looked around and finally spotted the Dursleys, who were surrounded by members of the Order of the Phoenix.

'_What are they talking about?_' Harry thought with unease, noticing that he all of a sudden felt slightly dizzy, which intensified as he walked over to his relatives.

"Harry!" Remus greeted him, pulling him close.

"I'm so sorry, Remus," Harry mumbled, leaning on to the man's robes as all of a sudden his vision started to fail.

"Harry!" Hermione and Mrs. Weasley shouted simultaneously, seeing that Harry had just fainted in the middle of the chaos on the platform.

"What have you done to my freak of a nephew at your freakish school?" Vernon Dursley sneered, turning small piglet's eyes to the unconscious child.

"I don't want to have him like this. If you did anything to him to weaken him so that he faints every now and then, he won't be able to do his chores. You can just keep him in your freakish world," Petunia stated with a disgusted expression on her face.

"Do you have any idea what could be wrong with Harry?" Tonks and Kingley Shacklebolt addressed Hermione and Ron, who both shook their heads.

"We don't know; he was fine until he went to hug Professor Lupin," Ron replied.

"Ah no, now don't say it's Professor Lupin's fault that Harry fainted, Ronald," Hermione scolded him lightly.

"No; I know for a fact that he really is Remus and not a Death Eater in disguise," Tonks spoke up.

In the meantime, Mrs. Weasley had woken Harry up by an Enervate spell and was gently speaking to the boy, who wasn't able to keep consciousness longer than two minutes.

"Remus, don't you think we should take him back to Hogwarts and let Madam Pomfrey check on him? We can't let him go home like this," Tonks addressed the werewolf.

"All right; let's take him back through the wall and apparate from there," Lupin agreed, scooping Harry up into his arms.

When they arrived on the platform, where the Hogwarts Express was still standing, Harry slowly opened his eyes. "What happened?" he whispered in confusion, wondering, '_Why is Remus carrying me, and what are we doing back on the platform?_'

"You fainted twice right in front of your relatives," his former teacher told him. "Are you feeling unwell, Harry?" he asked in concern.

"I was a bit dizzy," Harry remembered, "but I'm fine now. Let's head back quickly; otherwise my uncle will be very angry."

"All right Harry, if you're sure," Remus replied, giving him a close look, noticing that Harry was still extremely pale and had dark rings under his eyes.

They returned to the main platform, where Tonks and Moody were just watching the Dursleys leave.

"They couldn't get away fast enough," Moody growled. "Better now?" he asked, turning to Harry.

"I'm f..." Harry could get out, before he collapsed again.

"Now that's enough," Remus said, picking Harry up in determination. "He told me he was better, but I'm definitely going to take him to Poppy."

"I'll accompany you," Tonks told him and followed her friend through the wall once more.

They apparated to Hogsmeade, and Lupin carried Harry back to Hogwarts.

"It's all right, Professor; you can let me down now," Harry complained half way up to the castle.

"Let's go to see Dumbledore first, if you're better now," Tonks told Harry when they reached the entrance doors.

"But I'm fine now. I can just go back to my relatives," Harry protested vehemently.

"No, you will not do such a thing after fainting twice at the station," Remus replied sternly, proceeding to guess the password for the gargoyle, which finally opened on 'lemon flavoured gummy bears.'

"Nymphadora, Remus, Harry," Dumbledore greeted them in surprise, offering lemon drops to his visitors.

"What happened here?" Remus asked astonished, looking around the office.

Harry blushed deeply, seeing the destructions in the Headmaster's office, which still remained visible. '_I did that_,' he thought miserably.

"Well, I had a small dispute with Harry about something the other day," Dumbledore explained shortly. "I thought Harry would be on his way home?"

"Harry fainted twice when we were standing on the platform together with his relatives, and we thought it would be better if Poppy could look him over before we left him with the Dursleys, especially as they made it clear to us that they wouldn't take him with them if he was sick," Lupin explained, causing Harry to groan.

"I'm not sick; I'm fine," he insisted, musing, '_Not that I longed to being with the Dursleys of course_.'

"That's definitely better," Dumbledore agreed pensively and called Pomfrey through the Hogwarts internal Floo system.

A minute later, Madam Pomfrey stepped out of the fireplace and proceeded to wave her wand at Harry several times, before she finally put it away. "I can't find anything," she said, frowning. "Mr. Potter, did you eat anything today?"

Harry gave her an astonished look. "Yes, of course. I had breakfast here at Hogwarts, and I ate a few chocolate frogs on the train."

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what might be wrong. Maybe I should keep Mr. Potter here for observation," Poppy thoughtfully addressed the Headmaster.

"No! I'm fine!" Harry spoke up, completely unnerved by the thought of staying in the hospital wing. '_It's not as bad as living with the Dursleys, but nevertheless I don't want that right now_.'

"All right, thank you Poppy," Dumbledore replied. "In that case, I don't see any reason why Harry shouldn't return to his relatives. I'll ask Professor Snape to accompany him. Can you please remain here for a while, Nymphadora and Remus? I'd like to discuss something with you."

Harry groaned inwardly. '_Of course, Snape wouldn't bring me back here like Remus and Tonks; that's why he's asking him now_,' Harry interpreted the Headmaster's instruction and hesitantly looked at Professor Snape, who had just arrived through the fireplace and was shooting Dumbledore a menacing glare.

"Severus, please make sure that Harry is all right before you hand him over to the Dursleys," the Headmaster told Snape indicating that there was no room for further discussions about the matter.

"And please dont forget to enlarge Harry's trunk before you give it back to him," Remus added, pulling the miniature versions of Harry's trunk and his owl cage out of his robe pocket.

"Harry, where is your owl?" Dumbledore asked gently, proceeding to stroke Fawkes' crown feathers.

"I told her to fly back to Hogwarts because I thought she'd be safer here," Harry confessed in a small voice.

"Can we go, Potter?" Snape asked impatiently. "I don't have all day."

"Sure," Harry replied, hurrying after the teacher back to the apparition point at Hogsmeade.

The professor apparated them to the playground near Harry's home, sneering when Harry couldn't help himself upright and stumbled to the ground when they arrived.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but can we sit down here for a moment?" Harry asked hesitantly and pointed to a bench at the end of the playground, noticing that the feeling of dizziness overcame him again.

"Typically Potter to make a fuss of everything," Snape sneered but quietly waited until Harry stood up and slowly walked out of the park.

By the time they were walking up to house number four, Harry was sure that he would be going to pass out again, if he couldn't sit down somewhere soon. As soon as Petunia opened the door, he hurried inside, holding on to the wall to sit down on the stairs, but unfortunately he managed to black out just in front of his cupboard.

Petunia looked down at the boy on the floor with an expression that Snape recognised as a mixture of hatred and fright, before she hissed towards the teacher, "I already said that I'm not going to take him in if he's unconscious. He won't even be able to do his chores in such a condition."

Raising an eyebrow, Snape replied, "The Headmaster instructed me to take Harry here." He quickly enlarged Harry's trunk and owl cage and retreated, before he shut the door firmly behind him, noticing from the corner of his eye that she shoved trunk and cage into a cupboard under the stairs.

From outside the door Severus could hear Petunia say to her husband, "The freak is back and still unconscious."

"Just leave the brat there until he wakes up," Vernon replied, causing the teacher to frown.

Recalling that Harry hadn't looked well while they walked up from the park and that the Headmaster had instructed him to make sure that Harry was all right before he left him, Snape decided to turn into his Animagus form and watch what the Dursleys were going to do with Harry. He transfigured into his raven form and hopped onto a wall in the garden. Through the kitchen window he could see the three Dursleys gather around the table to have dinner.

'_Don't they know what harm it can cause their nephew when they just ignore him in his condition?_' he thought. Even if he hated Harry, he was appalled by Petunia's treatment of the boy. '_I have to take him back to Hogwarts_,' he decided and hopped back to the front garden, transforming back into his human form behind the garage.

When he rang the bell, he heard Petunia's voice, "Just throw him into the cupboard, Vernon," and Snape didn't wait for the door to open but quickly used an Alohomora spell to let himself in.

"I'm going to take the boy with me before you end up killing him," he announced and apparated back to Hogwarts together with Harry and his trunk.

Half way up to the castle, Harry's mind slowly turned back to consciousness and he lazily opened his eyes, noticing horrified that he was being carried by his Potions professor.

"I'm sorry Professor; it's all right now," he stammered terrified, causing the teacher to give him a piercing look.

He let Harry walk but ushered him to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey once more checked on the child, stating that she couldn't find anything wrong.

"Could it be that he was hit by a dark spell?" she asked thoughtfully.

In the meantime, the Headmaster had arrived together with Professor McGonagall. "You fainted three times today, and each time was in front of your relatives?" he asked Harry, who was sitting on one of the crispy white beds, feeling absolutely annoyed by all the attention but anxious too.

"Yes, Professor, but I don't think it has something to do with my relatives. As much as I dislike them, I already felt dizzy when we arrived at the playground," he replied in a small voice, anxiously looking from one to the other.

At that moment, Professor Snape suddenly grabbed his left arm. "I'm sorry; he's calling," he shortly explained and hurried away.

"Be careful my boy," Dumbledore instructed him and took a seat next to Harry's bed, motioning McGonagall and Pomfrey to do the same. "Well, it looks as if you have been hit by a spell that makes you ill in a Muggle environment," he said thoughtfully, and Harry couldn't help but agree.

"That means that we can't send Harry back to his relatives at the moment. He can't remain at Hogwarts as a student except for the case that one of us became his guardian," the Headmaster continued to speak.

While the teachers were still contemplating what to do with him, Harry was pulled in a vision. He saw himself in a large stone room speaking to lots of people, who were bowing in front of him and wore dark robes and Death Eater masks.

"My faithful servants," he began, "today is a great day for us. Tonight, I'm going to kill Harry Potter." Ignoring the huge gasp of his followers, he continued, "Due to the fact that I received Potter's blood last summer, the blood wards around his relatives' house won't be able to stop me anymore. Last year, I wasn't strong enough to fight him, but when I fought against him in the ministry a few days ago I put him under a spell that makes it impossible for him to stay conscious longer than four hours in the Muggle world. Therefore, he'll probably already be unconscious at his relatives' house or will become unconscious this very moment. Tonight, we're going to attack, and you, my faithful servants, will witness my triumph. With me inside the Dursley house, no wards will be able to keep you away. Let's go." With that he grabbed the left arm of one of his Death Eaters and apparated away, causing Harry to find himself back in the hospital wing at Hogwarts.

"Professor, quickly, they're going to the Dursleys," Harry urgently told the Headmaster and quickly filled him in about what Voldemort had told his Death Eaters.

"All right, I'll alert the Order and be on my way. Harry, you'll stay with me for the time being. Minerva, please escort Harry to my guest room and stay with him until I'll be back," Dumbledore instructed them quickly, before he called Fawkes and let himself being flashed away by the phoenix.

"Poppy, are you coming with us for tea?" McGonagall asked the Mediwitch, while she took Harry's trunk and made it float in front of her, motioning the boy to follow her.

"All right," Madam Pomfrey agreed and joined them on their way to the Headmaster's office, from which they took a staircase that led to Professor Dumbledore's private chambers.

"Professor, are you sure that Professor Dumbledore wants to have me staying here?" Harry asked anxiously when his Head of House let him into the guest room. "I could just stay at the Leaky Cauldron or somewhere."

"No, you can't Harry. Especially with Voldemort around, it wouldn't be safe for you. Professor Dumbledore meant that you should stay here. He'll probably ask Professor Snape and me to keep an eye on you during the summer, because he'll be away quite often, but he said he wanted to become your temporary guardian for the summer," Professor McGonagall explained gently. "Don't worry, Harry; everything will be all right."

"It can only be so much better than any summer I spent at my relatives'," Harry replied, smiling.

"Harry, have you eaten dinner?" Madam Pomfrey all of a sudden enquired while McGonagall was instructing a house elf to bring tea.

"No, but I'm not hungry," Harry told the Healer in a hardly audible voice.

"Well, from tomorrow morning onwards, you won't miss any meals. You are to take all meals in the Great Hall. Do you understand me?" Pomfrey asked sternly, and Harry knew better than to contradict.

"Harry, why don't you go to bed?" McGonagall asked gently, seeing that Harry could hardly suppress his yawns anymore.

"I'd like to hear that the Dursleys are all right first," Harry replied softly. "I know that they hate me and I'm glad I don't have to spend the summer with them, but nevertheless I want them to be all right."

Only when he was nearly falling asleep nursing his cup of tea, Dumbledore returned with a grave expression on his face, and Harry noticed in surprise that Mrs. Figg entered the room behind the Headmaster.

"What happened, Professor?" he asked anxiously, unconsciously watching how McGonagall served him a cup of tea.

"He was very angry because he couldn't find you, Harry, and well, let's just say Privet Drive doesn't exist anymore. That's why I brought Arabella, Minerva. She's going to stay here as well until she finds a new place to live."

Harry threw the Headmaster a terrified look, while the Deputy Headmistress showed Mrs. Figg to another room right next to Harry's.

"What about the Dursleys?" Harry asked, frightened to hear the truth, but the Headmaster's expression was answer enough, and he couldn't hold back the tears anymore that had been threatening to pour down from the corners of his eyes any second.

"It's not your fault, Harry," Professor McGonagall told him softly, gently putting an arm around his shoulders. "Go to bed and try to sleep, and we'll speak about everything in the morning."

"Yes," Harry replied obediently in spite of knowing that he would hardly be able to sleep during that night. However, when he scrambled into bed, McGonagall entered his room with a small phial in her hands, which she placed on his night table.

"Madam Pomfrey gave me a light dreamless sleep potion for you, and I suggest that you take it tonight," she said softly.

"Thanks Professor." Harry gratefully gulped down the potion that made him drift off to sleep in the blink of an eye and even helped to keep his nightmares at bay.

When Harry woke up in the morning, his Head of House was sitting on the edge of his bed reading an old tome. "Good morning Professor," he mumbled sleepily, reaching for his glasses.

"Good morning, Harry. I hope you slept well?"

"Yes, thanks a lot," Harry replied, still feeling tired. '_Better than during the last week anyway_,' he thought, inwardly sighing.

"When you're ready, Professor Dumbledore and I would like to speak with you in the living room," McGonagall told him and left the room to give him some privacy.

Ten minutes later, Harry joined his teachers in the living room. After exchanging the necessary greetings with the Headmaster, Dumbledore began to speak. "Harry, since you're going to live here from now on, we'd like to tell you something that only our colleagues know so far..."

"...and we'd like to keep it that way," McGonagall interrupted him strictly.

"Of course Professors," Harry promised, questioningly glancing from one to the other.

"Minerva and I are living here together; so you won't only be staying with me but with both of us," Dumbledore explained gently. "We've been married for nearly fifty years, but as I said apart from our colleagues nobody knows about it."

"I always thought that you behaved like a married couple, but I'm glad that it's true, and don't worry; I'm going to keep your secret," Harry smiled, before his expression all of a sudden sobered and he said, "Thanks a lot, Professors, for taking me in, although I can imagine that the last thing you want to see during your holidays is a student."

"You're welcome, my boy, and if everything had gone according to Minerva's wishes, we'd have already taken you in fifteen years ago. Unfortunately, for safety reasons that wasn't possible," the Headmaster replied with a merry twinkle in his eyes.

"We're glad to have you here, Harry," Professor McGonagall agreed, once more putting an arm around Harry's shoulders.

_Epilogue – 1__st__ of September_

"Harry! You're looking much better than last year," Hermione blurted out, pulling Harry into a bear hug when she sat next to him at the Gryffindor table. "How were your holidays?"

"Brilliant," Harry sighed contentedly. "Well, I don't know if you heard about the Dursleys, but anyway, Professor Dumbledore took me in, and he, McGonagall, and Snape took turns looking after me. I stayed at Hogwarts all the time, and even if they made me study every day and taught me Potions, Wandless Magic, and the Animagus Transformation I had much fun and even had a small birthday party, the first in my life. The best holidays ever! It probably sounds strange, but I'm grateful that Voldemort placed that spell on me right before the holidays; I'm really happy he did that," he added hesitantly.

"Oh Harry, I'm so glad for you," Hermione answered contentedly, "It was finally time that someone started to look after you."

**The End**

* * *

_I'm not a native speaker of English; please excuse my mistakes or tell me, so that I can correct them._

_All recognizable characters belong to __Mrs. Rowling__, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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